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Tan-kuai-salak tradition

The TAN KUAISALAK religious ceremony usually organizes in around august, September and October but it’s most popular in September. Because they beliefs in the September is a lack month, and the price of foods or many thing of consume are going to expensive such as foods, water, rice, and etc. that’s why people think about this month is a lack month. And they usually organize it in a middle of Buddhist Lent(kao-pan-sa) (E.g. people who have a lots of paddy in a rice storage-house they will divide the rice for 2 between old rice and new rice after that they will keep the new rice and sale the old rice. Well, this time that makes them reminding to their parents who passed away, Then they thought about their parent in paradise (heavens) they thought that their parents in other world might lack of food, or anything, then the people they decided to organize TAN KUAI SALAK to dedicate for their parents, pets or persons with previous deeds on each other.

Tan-kuai-salak tradition means like the sign of dedicating, people they provide the food or many consume for dedicating such as dried food and rice for monk, and after that they prepare and set every thing to ready for TA-KUAI SALAK days. Of course! The things they will dedicate. They called “KUAI” but KUAI is not specific for monk who will get it but it depends on the label “they called it Salak”.
On TAN KUAI SALAK days they will combine Salak together and then the monk will take it and go around all booths, the monk and temple boy or normal people will walk around to find that booths and read letters in SALAK. (Just only the monk who will read and it’s not be allow normal person to read it)The salak is specific for KUAI SALAK. But they wouldn’t know about the label or salak before what KUAI they will get from the salak. Because when they (read in the label people who prepare the Kuai to the monk.
And the most important for the villages they will come to the temple and find out a agreement about what day they day will organize the ceremony, when they got result they will find the temple for organize it, first they will find the most important temple. And to provide the ceremony they will have 2 days, for the first day they called “wan-da” it means the day before ceremony day this day is about the day to prepare KUAI or the things to dedicate and another day they called “wan tan” it mean the ceremony day!!
In wan-da or before the ceremony day, they will provide KUAI or think that they will dedicate, it depends on their beliefs and how much that they can afford.

For relatives they will come to do some things together and join donating and the four necessities of a Buddhist monk: food, raiment, abode and medicine for giving alms or charity for their relatives.





Most important Material of TAN-KUAI-SALAK Consist of

“TON SALAK” is the offering given as alms, they provide and make it is a bush. They set it around the wishing tree (ton-dok-koon) or around TON-SALAK.
KUAI-salak was classify into 3 type of KUAI

Big, medium and small

1 The big one they called “KUAI-JOK”
2. The medium one they called “KUAI-SUM-RAB”
3. The small one they called “KUAI-SUNG” is a basket made of bamboo
And the extra basket they called “SALAK-YOUM”

KUAI-JOK

Is the offering given as alms make as exquisite or fantastic and it’s very big and it usually decorated with flowers. Perhaps, they build it likes a castle, a boat, a horse, or cattle.
Inside they put appliances and about consume, and KUAI-JOK people they put much money than other one (KUAI). About SALAK-YOUM is women’s KUAI-SALAK. It’s a special HUAI-SALAK they put more things such as a mirror, a comb, a powder, handkerchief and etc.
When they put all about a women utensil and then they will raise an umbrella and hang it on the top of umbrella, because they beliefs about when they married they will happy with their lives

KUAI-SUM-RAB

they use a medium size basket for a container like package, wicker basket, basin or bucket and put appliances and foods and they will put money less than KUAI-JOK


KUAI-SUNG
made of is a basket make of bamboo is transparent then they wrap it with banana leaf but now, they use paper instead of banana leaf.
They put cooked rice, rice and prepare foods, mostly they usually put dried foods.
Such as KAB-MOOH (fried pig’s skink), preserved pork (pork, shredded and salted, bound tightly with banana leaves, and eaten slightly fermented), chili, salt, shallot, garlic, tobacco and Any Dessert and fruit such as pommel, banana, sugar cane, sugar, coconut but for HUAI SUNG is less a space, it can not put a lots of thing. But for KUAI JOK and KUAI SUM RAB, people might put lots of thing and these KUAIs they make for dedicate to their relative or parent who passed away

In the words that they call “HOM POI” it means people they would come to join with person (their relative who has “TON SALAK”) they bring HUAI SALAK and put it all together.
When they come to join the person they bring a thing and many beautiful flowers to decorate, and the owner’s ton-salak they will take care people who come to join them like serve foods, water. And they dessert to serve the joiner
Decorating TON-SALAK it takes so long times maybe whole day. Because in the past
People can’t buy a readymade on, just only it by themselves but nowadays!! It becomes so easy to buy that. Amount of KUAI SALAK in the past they would have about 10 KHAIs up. Because they must bring to offer Buddha, Buddha's teaching, Buddha's relics, abbot and liaison (ma-ka-ta-yok)
And all 5 huais don’t have a salak (not label) just give to them only
And another KUAIs they would have labels (SALAK) to specific that which one that they want to dedicate to’ such as for their parents, pets or persons with previous deeds on each other. KUAI SUM RAB they will prepare for their family 1 per each person.

KUAI SUM RAB,
People usually provide for their parent who passed a way. They beliefs about their parent will have food in the future right there.

“TON SLASALK”




If which families who have a son they will set the tree have trident and the middle of trident is longer than both side. In the middle of trident they will stab some match and some money and at the both side they will hang with cigarette. But some region people do like other things (kind of ceremony like the same) they create a new design and TON-SALAK they build it like a phoenix and inside the mouth’s phoenix they put some money inside it and the phoenix they set it on the top of Ton Salak. That so fantastic

SALAK
Salak is the thing that they write the letter on it, they write their name and person name (their relative that they want dedicate to, include they also write the word or sentence to respect to their relative (who passed away) the word more like faithfully words or delicately words.

Salak in the past, people they used to use a Helostoma temminckii (Helostomidae) a palm leaf (leaf of sugar palm tree ) and a dried palm leaf ,then, they take it and trim it or adjusts for due to look,
Width: 3-4 cm.
Length: 40-50 cm.
And cut the edge of each end and make it a triangle, and then, they dry out it. After that they will take it and write down something that they want with character in north’s language.

They will be finish setting up ton-salak tree at noon. At night they will bring brother, sister and relative to see the ton-Salak tree again. Only ton-Salak tree ladies cannot make it finish at noon but they will finish at late evening. When the guys are finish of what they doing, they will help the ladies doing the Ton-Salak tree at late evening. At that time both men and women will talk to each other. They called this word (Au-sao) it means that guys teasing ladies. Only the guys who have been bless by the monks, they can write character in the north’s language. The adults will ask the bless males to write the characters into the Salak. In the past, they wrote the north’s character in their names with dedicate word in Salak.
They will write dedicate word into salak because this is the old ceremony that been with us for a long time.
The words and the sentences in salak it most likes the same every region. Such as

“Ei-me-na sak-ka-ta put-ta-tha-nung sub-pa-rok-ka ta-nung pa-ri-va sub-tao-ta-pi-ku-huh-ta-nung” “อิมินา สลากภตฺตทานํ สพฺพรุกฺขทานํ สพฺพปริวารทานํ ภณฺฑโอทานภิกฺขหารทานํ ” they wish their relative to have a good life.


When a real day or TA-HUAI-SALAK day is begin, in early morning people wake up early maybe 5 am in the morning to prepare something for ready and cook foods and prepare it to give food offering to a Buddhist monk, and give offering to image of Buddha on the shelf, so after that they will pack a cooked rice and dries foods they put them into each HUAI.
When they Finished breakfast and they will a take a bath and dress their salvers with a nice shirt and colorful, and especially with the teenagers they will dress their selves so colorful by a nice design shirt (like flower and picture or colorful shirt)
Because, normally if it doesn’t have any festival people they won’t dress their selves so colorful because some villager might gossip them, then when it has a festival people so excited and they will dress their selves to show off with a nice shirt. And after that they will bring TON-SALAK and HAUI SALAK and set it in area around temple, then they will bring SALAKs and pile them in front of principle Buddha image in a temple. monk will perform a ceremony but for 5 HUAIs that don’t have salak to specific huai they will give it for offer Buddha, Buddha's teaching, Buddha's relics, abbot and liaison (ma-ka-ta-yok)

“KA-TOP-NOI” or a little house
Among when people go to the temple, the sideways children they help together to set a little house it is a superficial little house, it usually build by bamboo, and it looks like a shrine

Width: 50 centimeters
Length: 1 meter
Height: 1 meter

When people see it they might put a sweets and kind of Thai sweetmeat inside that house. And after that children will be at the little house (KA-TOP-NOI) and then they will share the sweets to each other.
In cause, when Buddhist monks and novices was invited to join other temple (because people they just organize the ceremony only some temple, not every temple)
And there is one woman they called “MAA-HAR” each tambon they will prepare KUAI for Buddhist monks and novices.
Actually MAA-HAR would the monks write letter in into salak for them because they beliefs if monks write the salak that will give a merit to their parent as fast as possible and they think that will give them a bid merit
In the HUAI SALAK day the novices so excited for get the HUAI they want to get HUAI JOK they pray for a good luck.
The TAN HUAI SALAK it organizes every years and when Tan Kuai salak day began, many beggar will come in the temple and ask for foods and KUAI, then the committee will take them to sit around cathedral, then if some people mercy or pity them they will food to them, and especially for the teenager will give rice for the bagger and they wish to have rice for eating all their lives

SOON-SEN

When all villages bring salak to combine all together then committee they will SOON-SALAK (put the salak all together) and everyone stand and watch the salak, after that they will go to next ceremony rite.

KAN-SEN (call name of salak)

Bringing the kuai to find a salak, people they beliefs bring kuai will be easily ways to give merit to their parents, but mostly they still do like before is stay at the booth and wait for monk come up at the booth and read on salak for them. But bringing kuai to find the salak, the novices they will wait around church and village they will bring kuai to find their salak, and this is the chance for the man and women they will talk to each other with the person they like or flirt.

TIME
Time for start Finding the salak and the time to end, it start around 11:00-11.30 am but some place or some region they might doing it for a whole day around 10:30-4:30 pm it depend on population that region, and for the novices when they got the huai they will break it out and eat food inside kuai, but these day, people concern about this, they think about novices act like this isn’t polite then people they just threw monk and novices to have food before noon.
For temple that organize TAN HUAI SALAK ceremony, when monk and novice form another temple go back to their temple, in this temple will re-find SALAK again. It will fun again because they must to find their own salak.


GOD SALAK (salak tavada)
Some region they called (salak ber) it means the number of Salaks is like a small ceremony in some group or some village, not need to join with relative, can do it with one family and join in their village, so it means, they only in their region, don’t go to another TAM BON, just only their TAM BON , and people will invite only monk and novices in their region to join, the village they will collect KUAIs and put them together and they will separate into a small pile and set for enough to all monk and novices of that temple and they will separate one pile for offer sacrifice the image of Buddha, one offer sacrifice for Buddha's teaching, one for Buddha's relics and liaison, but for the Monks and Novices people will put number to specify for HUAI, it starts for 1 until enough for all of the monks and novices then they will write the number again and put in a small paper and roll it after that they put it into monk's alms-bowl and give the novice and the monk draw in monk's alms-bowl, same like lucky draw, one monk per one number, if monk get which number people will offer them with that pile.


This is benefit and the value of TAN-KUAI-SLAK

It’s the way for making a unity of the group and village, it also for another village

It’s the way to express gratitude to their parents and relative who passed way but still keep respect it them

It’s donating, people beliefs it will gives a big merit

It’s the ways to find the money to repair, to restore and fix something in the temple.